Need GD help! snack ideas?

jen5-03 · July 2009

I'm on day 1 of my gestational diabetes diet and not doing so well.

Meals I'm ok with (more or less - my # was high 2hr after my salad and pizza lunch, I think not enough protein was my problem)

Snacks suck. big time.

My plan says 3 snacks a day. Two of the snacks are 15g carbs and 1oz protein. The other snack is 30g carbs and 1oz protein.

I'm not allowed fruit for a snack. I'm not allowed milk for the snacks that just have 15g carbs.

I'm not allowed to subtract fiber from my carb count.

What kind of proteins do you eat???!? I'm already so sick of cheese I think I'll puke if I eat any more.

Nuts are a fat, not a protein. Cream cheese is a fat, not a protein. Hummus is a carb, not a protein.

So my choices are basically meat, cheese, or peanut butter.

The problem with peanut butter is that a serving is 2 Tbs and putting that on just one slice of bread or half an english muffin is WAY too much and I'm choking on it. Even 1 Tbs is too much for half an english muffin.

I'm sure I'm just not being creative enough, but I need help please. I'm so frustrated I just want to cry. I have a follow up call with the dietician on Monday so I'll ask for ideas then too.

ccc'swife · July 2009

For proteins, I usually eat cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt. What about the light yogurt drinks (like Danactive)? Or, you could do plain yogurt and mix in 100% fruit spread (like the Polaner's All Fruit). That way, it's sweet, but w/ no added sugar). Well, crap, I just saw you can't have fruit at all, so nevermind on the jelly part.

I'm stumped otherwise b/c of the nuts and peanut butter ~ I will usually eat those as protein, too.

OOH! What about soy protein? You could buy the Morningstar Farms brand, which are all things made with soy protein, and they're GOOD. I like almost all of it.

I was going to suggest smoothies...here's a good one that I make at home and love. Blend together milk, cocoa powder (unsweetened), peanut butter, bananas, and ice (and if you can have something like Splenda or another artificial sweetener, you can add that). You could also add some vanilla flavored protein powder, maybe. Anyway, put all of that in a blender and it tastes like a chocolate peanut butter milkshake, but MUCH healthier.

Hope these help...sorry it's so frustrating

horn_jm@hotmail.com · July 2009

I haven't had GD - just trying to come up with some more ideas...

Beef jerky?

Hard boiled egg?

Edamame?

High protein energy bar?

jen5-03 · July 2009

The problem is that things don't fall into the categories you think they will. Yogurt is a dairy, not a protein, so I can't have it for most of my snacks, though I could for the afternoon snack.

Fruit is a carb, but not allowed at snacks.... so jelly (even all-fruit) and bananas are both out. (I can eat them at meals though)

Morningstar is a good idea, I'll have to go browse that at the store. Maybe I can make the smoothie with tofu and peanut butter and leave out the milk and banana. hmmmm.

ccc'swife · July 2009

What about soy milk? Or rice milk? Or almond milk? That stuff is GOOD. They have flavors, too, so you could use vanilla milk (one of the non-dairy), peanut butter, and cocoa powder (plus protein powder) and make a smoothie.

I don't understand their classifications ~ how is yogurt NOT a protein? All dairy IS protein! Does not compute

jen5-03 · July 2009

I know! That's what drives me crazy. But the problem as I understand it is the lactose is sugar and gets digested too easily and hits the blood stream fast and creates a spike in my blood sugar.

Soy milk counts as a dairy and therefore a carb. Rice milk and almond milk aren't in my book.

Quartzcpw · July 2009

Didn't have GD, but my dad is diabetic so this is what I found often works for him:

Low carb wheat tortillas and cheese quesadilla (sometimes even when you are tired of cheese, the melting makes it better)--if you need a fast snack can throw in the microwave

Low carb wheat tortilla turkey/chicken wrap

I couldn't touch eggs with a ten foot pole when pregnant, but maybe you can? If so--this works as another good protein option (can make half a sandwich for a snack, "breakfast" snack taco, etc.)

With the peanut butter you could also supplement the crackers with celery and do old school ants on logs, minus the ants

Nanner · July 2009

jen5/03:

I know! That's what drives me crazy. But the problem as I understand it is the lactose is sugar and gets digested too easily and hits the blood stream fast and creates a spike in my blood sugar.

Soy milk counts as a dairy and therefore a carb. Rice milk and almond milk aren't in my book.

I don't understand this. Soy milk isn't dairy, and it doesn't have lactose in it; and if you get the unflavored, it doesn't have added sugar either. Plus, there are some unsweetened flavored soy milks too. ( https://www.westsoy.biz/products/unsweetened.php) I know unsweetened soy milk doesn't taste that great, but if you're allowed artificial sweeteners, perhaps you could buy the flavored, unsweetened soy milk and add artificial sweetener.

allie&trav · July 2009

My mainstays have been the following:

Cheese & crackers
Tortilla with melted cheese
High protein South Beach living bars (10g of protein)
PB on whole wheat toast (I just used as much as tasted good to me or ate an additional spoonful to get enough)
Almonds & dry cheerios
Egg salad/tuna salad w/ crackers or on a tortilla

The snacks get old, I know. I did really well for the first few weeks on my diet (followed it to a T), so I was able to drop the last snack of the day and only monitor my levels twice per day. Do the best you can and try not to stress too much about it. Check out the high risk board too, b/c a lot a girls post their ideas for snacks. Good luck!

jen5-03 · July 2009

Nanner - I know! It does not make sense. I'll ask tomorrow when I call the dietician. I want to know the numbers that make something ok/no ok. But I have a suspicion that they put it in dairy because they don't want you to drink carbs at all.

Thanks Allie! I just got back from costco and got some of those south beach bars.

I'm going to ask about nuts too because EVERYONE seems to eat nuts as a protein and that's something that I would enjoy eating.

I found some stuff on the high-risk board too and based on that got some 100-calorie snack packs for some different carbs.

I also got some greek yogurt and will ask the dietician about that tomorrow too. Since it has 9g carbs and 20g protein per cup I can't see how it could count as a carb.

I did try a smoothie the other night too! A half serving of tofu (1/4 cup) and a half serving of peanut butter (1TBS), 1 Tbs cocoa powder, some water and ice. And Equal. It was tasty. I ate a waffle with it. But my morning number wasn't great, so I don't know if I'll do it again. Actually, I blended it without ice at first and it made a chocolatey-peanut buttery goo that might be good on a waffle or toast. Maybe I'll try it for breakfast one day.

SigmundsGirl · July 2009

I don't have GD, at least not yet, but try to eat low-glycemic snacks.

What about smoked salmon on whole grain melba toast? If you can have a little bit of cream cheese with it, it is really good. This is a great snack, but I also have to monitor how much salmon I eat per week.

I hope you can find some yummy ideas.

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